Guard for chained door bolts



July 9, 1957 E. E. WADE 2,798,753

GUARD FOR CHAINED DOOR BOLTS Filed Jan. 4, 1954 IN V EN TOR.

4; rm: EWLYN B E BY United States Patent GUARD FOR CHAINED DOOR BOLTS Edith Evelyn Wade, Dallas, Tex. Application January 4, 1954, Serial No. 401,967 1 Claim. (Cl. 292-264) The present invention relates to a guard for chained door bolts. More particularly the invention pertains to a cover plate which overlies the conventional slotted retainer plate or keeper and which is so designed that access to a cooperating bolt or button attached to the chain may be had only from that side of the guard remote from the door edge.

Chain-attached bolts permit partial opening of a door, but it has been found that access to the bolt may be had by persons whose fingers and hands are suificiently small to reach and slide the bolt out of the keeper, or a wire or other improvised tool may be manipulated to release the bolt from the opposite side of the door. It is, therefore, a purpose of this invention to prevent such manipulation of a bolt of this type and provide for release of the bolt only from an opening not easily ac cessible from the edge of the door. The invention will be understood from the following description thereof when taken with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a chain-retained bolt with a preferred form of the present guard positioned thereover;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the guard.

In the drawings it will be seen that a bolt or button having the usual T-head is attached to one end of chain 11, the other end of which is secured to anchor plate 12, the latter being held to door frame 13 by screws or similar fastenings. Bolt 10 cooperates with keeper plate 14 provided with slot 15, one end of which is enlarged at 16 to permit withdrawal of the bolt. This arrangement is conventional and forms no part of the invention except that the guard is associated therewith.

The guard 17, as best illustrated in perspective in Fig. 3, is preferably, although not necessarily, a box-like casing of metal or other rigid material closed on four sides and open on the other two sides. Flanges 18 on the casing and adjacent one open side thereof, are suitably 2,798,753 Patented July 9, 1957 provided with openings 19 to accommodate screws or other fasteners and permit attachment of the casing to the door. When the casing is attached to the door this side of the casing is also closed. The closed end 20 of the casing is nearest the door edge and is provided with an opening 22 which is only large enough to permit passage of the bolt and chain therethrough. The width and height of the casing are such that a human hand may be inserted through open end 23 to manipulate the bolt either to engage it in the keeper or to release it therefrom. The length of the casing is substantially that of the keeper so that the open end of the guard casing is some distance from the edge 21 of the door, making it practically impossible to manipulate the bolt by fingers or improvised tools, by a person acting from the opposite side of the door. If desired, the opening 22 through which the chain passes may be provided with a protective ring or grommet 24 of soft rubber or plastic material to reduce wear on the casing and chain as well as to minimize noise as the chain is drawn through the opening.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it is not intended that the guard be limited to the exact form illustrated, but may be modified within the terms of the appended claim to meet specific requirements.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In combination with a chain, a bolt attached to said chain, and slotted keeper for a door as described, a boxlike rigid casing disposed over and enclosing the keeper, said casing being closed on all sides except that end remote from the edge of the door, said remote end having an opening sufficiently large to permit insertion of a human hand to manipulate the bolt, the closed end of said casing nearest the door edge having an opening only slightly larger than said bolt and through which said chain and bolt are inserted, the dimensions of said last-mentioned opening being substantially less than said first-mentioned opening whereby insertion of a human hand into said casing may be made only through said first-mentioned opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 467,165 Grandeman Jan. 19, 1892 1,220,941 Bowers Mar. 27, 1917 1,244,404 Ankovitz 'Oct. 23, 1917 1,697,814 Forbes Ian. 1, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS 322,103 Great Britain Nov. 28, 1929 

